美國德州卡車人口走私案9人死亡

Police in Texas say they found eight people dead early Sunday in the back of a sweltering tractor-trailer in a Walmart parking lot. A ninth victim died in a hospital hours later.

Surveillance footage recorded vehicles pulling up to the truck Saturday night, taking a few people at a time from the trailer, then closing the truck and driving away.

The truck's human cargo was discovered after someone from the trailer asked a Walmart employee for water. That led to a police check, and the discovery of about 30 survivors, including two school-aged children, along with those who died - all adult men. Authorities at a hospital where the survivors were taken said 20 people were in critical condition.

"We're looking at a human trafficking crime this evening," San Antonio police chief William McManus said, calling the case a "horrific tragedy."

San Antonio's fire chief, Charles Hood, said it was likely no one would have survived another night in the trailer, after a day in which temperatures reached 38 degrees Celsius.

The trailer was a refrigerated freight carrier, but its cooling system was not working.

A 60-year-old man from Florida, said to be the truck's driver, was arrested, and authorities said he would face criminal charges in court on Monday.

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly promised a thorough investigation.

"These smugglers have no regard for human life and seek only profits," Secretary Kelly said in a statement Sunday. He pledged that authorities in the U.S., Mexico and Central America will "root out these smugglers, bring them to justice and dismantle their networks."

There was no word on the nationality of the immigrants aboard the truck. San Antonio is a few hours' drive from the U.S.-Mexico border, but people smugglers who bring in illegal immigrants are patronized by people from a number of Central American countries as well as Mexico.

The Mexican government said in a statement it deeply regrets the deaths, and that it has called on authorities to conduct an exhaustive investigation.美國德克薩斯州警方表示，他們在一輛拖掛卡車內發現八人死亡，拖掛卡車當時停在一家沃爾瑪超市的停車場上。第九名遇難者幾個小時後在醫院死亡。

監控畫面顯示，星期六晚有幾輛車停在卡車旁邊，從卡車上接走幾個人，然後駛離。

這輛卡車是車內有人向沃爾瑪的員工要水時被發現的。警方趕來後搜查了卡車，發現車內有30名倖存者，包括兩名學齡兒童，還有八名死者。死者均爲成年男子。倖存者被送往醫院救治。有關當局在醫院表示，有20人情況危急。

聖安東尼奧警察局長威廉·麥克馬納斯稱這是一起“可怕的慘劇”。他說：“我們認爲這有可能是一起人口販賣犯罪。”

聖安東尼奧消防局長查爾斯·胡德說，車內的人很暗再熬過一晚，白天的氣溫達到38攝氏度。

這輛拖掛卡車是一輛冷藏車，但車上的空調系統失靈。

據稱，一名來自佛羅里達州的60歲男子是卡車的司機。這名男子已被逮捕。有關當局表示，他星期一將在法院面臨刑事起訴。美國國土安全部部長凱利表示，要對事件進行全面調查。

凱利在星期天發表的一份聲明中說，“人口販子無視生命，只顧牟利。”他誓言，美國、墨西哥和中美洲國家將“取締人口販子和他們的網絡，並將他們繩之以法。”

還不清楚卡車內人員是哪國人。聖安東尼奧距離美墨邊境有幾個小時的車程。一些中美洲國家和墨西哥的人員會找人口販子把非法移民帶進美國。

墨西哥政府在一份聲明中說，對人員死亡感到遺憾，呼籲有關當局進行全面調查。